The Dolls' House
by Ryous lil Tenshi
Summary: It's Ryou's birthday, and Bakura gives him a... special sort of present. Angsty Twoshot, complete
1. Chapter 1

Yaaaaaaay HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYOU THIS IS FOR YOU!!!

I feel bad... This is so not fluffy -.-

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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"Lara, what on earth are you still doing up?"

The small child froze, before slowly turning around, bright blue eyes fixated on the man who stood over her.

"I-I'm sorry, sir..." She lowered her gaze, digging a toe into the fake wooden planks. Her pink nightgown, too large for her and so ill-fitting, it slipped over one shoulder. "I-I just needed to use the bathroom... I'm going back to bed now, I promise." She raised imploring cerulean eyes up to her caregiver, nibbling on her lower lip. The taller man only slumped his shoulders in a long sigh, holding out his arms.

"Let me tuck you into bed, then." His tone was considerably gentler, and the little girl, trusting him, ran into the grey-clothed arms, stretched out just for her. "You okay?" He hefted the little body in his arms, blonde curls in his face as he walked towards her room.

"... No." She finally murmured, shaking her head as her eyes glistened with tears. The man frowned down at her in concern as he entered the little girls' bedroom, setting her down on the bed.

"Why not?" He pulled the single blanket, little more than a heavily dyed scrap of material over the girl as she lay down, turning her face towards the man. He sat down on the edge of the bed, absentmindedly stroking her tight little curls, strewn about the pillow like gold silk.

"This new house... It's really big, but its' old... and kinda creepy." She eyed the faded wallpaper with intense distaste. "Do we have to stay here now?"

"Hey, hey." The man took a slightly more serious tone as he looked down at the girl. "It's better than our little apartment, isn't it? Look at all the space you have here... And the swing on the porch..."

"Why did we move?" The little girl turned her face up to the man, frowning slightly. "Did Master get given this house?"

"... For his birthday." The man muttered, pulling the blankets up to her chin, and tucking them in. "And don't call him Master. You know he doesn't like that."

"I-I know..." She whispered, sniffing. The man frowned down at her, brown eyes narrowing in concern.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently, his hand returning to those soft blonde curls. The little girl sniffed again, and swallowed.

"I-I miss Mummy and Daddy..." She finally murmured. "Wh-Why did he take me away from them?" The man looked away, unable to answer this question, one the little girl asked almost every night.

"I don't know." His voice was low, quavering. "Maybe he-"

_BRING!_

"My dinner!" Ryou jumped up, both dolls still in his hands. He hurriedly released his hand on the girl in her bed, blonde curls still stumbling across the plastic pillow, and left the man to slump over onto the floor, his wooden arms above his head. He spun around on his heel, and ran across the room, over the puddles of clothes and the creased and bent books, the puzzle pieces, and the other childish toys that shouldn't really be played with by a child of ten. "Goodie!" He yanked open the metal drawer, craning his neck to look at the food inside.

"Macaroni!" Ryou was beaming as he lifted the tray out of the drawer, inhaling the aroma of pasta-and-cheese, closing his eyes. As well as a small bowl of macaroni, Ryou had a blackcurrant juice box, and a soft, round bread roll for his dinner.

"What do you say?" The cool, female voice sounded from the speaker in the top corner, almost patronizing. Ryou stepped over a plush teddy bear, and set the slightly wobbling tray down on his card table with shaking hands.

"Thank you..." Ryou rolled his eyes as he chorused the words, smiling childishly as he stabbed the pasta with a plastic fork. He positively shovelled the food down his throat, which was the first food he'd had since before noon. Ryou swung his legs as he ate, spearing the top of his juice box with his little straw, slowly sucking on the white plastic tube. He was acting like a five year old at that moment, and with his innocent, childlike features, and tiny, almost unhealthy figure, he looked it too.

And yet this tiny, naive child was labelled one of the most dangerous people in the country.

Ryou slowly lowered the straw from his mouth, staring at the large two-way mirror that took up almost one wall. He knew that there would be people behind that mirror, looking at him, making notes, but all Ryou could see was his own reflection.

Well, that wasn't _quite_ true...

"Enjoying dinner?" The voice was gentle, almost soothing in his ear. Ryou blinked, and turned his head slightly, to look at the semi-transparent face close to his.

"Well... It's better than the chilli I had last night." Ryou smiled. "But it's kinda crusty at the top and some of the cheese is in clumps..."

"Bastards." Ryou jumped, his wide brown eyes fixated on the spirit beside him.

"Th-That's not a nice thing to say." The boy argued, frowning slightly. Bakura only snarled, flashing a glimpse of his sharp canines.

"They lock you in here like a prisoner, and they can't even fucking _feed_ you." Bakura growled, clenching a corporeal hand into a fist. "It's not fair on you."

"I-I hurt people..." Ryou pushed his half-finished food away, finishing his appetite as he stared down at the surface of the card table. His insides burned with guilt as he toyed with his juicebox, unable to stare at his dollhouse – his recent birthday present- in the corner.

"_I_ hurt people." Bakura clarified with a malicious smirk. "And give you more pretty toys to play with, don't I?" Ryou's heart sank a little more, and he kept his eyes fixed on his plate, tightly clutching the edges of his plastic folding chair.

"Y-You do." Ryou breathed quietly, his head bowed, chin trembling. A tiny smile formed on Bakura's face, not warm and friendly, but cold and malicious.

"And you like taking care of the dolls, don't you?" Bakura's voice grew colder, more manipulating.

"I-I do." Ryou nodded weakly, agreeing. It passed the time, more or less. "It... Gives me a purpose." He finished, his hands shaking.

"You're such a good boy." Bakura crooned, his eyes half-lidded as he murmured the words into Ryou's ear. "And good boys get rewarded, don't they?" Ryou was silent and still for a long moment, before biting his lip and nodding.

"T-They do." Ryou kept his voice low, tried not to move his lips too much. Perhaps if it didn't look like he was talking to anyone, and he kept his voice low enough, they wouldn't know...

"Don't be ashamed of me." A semi-transparent hand slowly started to move up to Ryou's hair. "Sharing your body, your soul with me makes you great." Ryou was starting to shiver, his heart thudding.

"I-I lost Daddy..." Ryou whimpered, his voice high and afraid. "I-I miss him..."

"Oh, I know you do." Bakura purred. "But look now. Everyone has sat up and taken notice of you. Look at you, boy. You've been in the papers, the news... Everyone knows who you are." Ryou swallowed, starting to sweat just a little. "You've even met that Prime Minister that everyone makes a fuss over."

"I don't want people to know me." Ryou blinked rapidly, trying not to cry. Tears were a weakness in Bakura's eyes. "I just wanna be normal..." Bakura actually laughed, albeit only a soft chuckle, and shook his head, wild white hair falling in his eyes.

"Normal? You?" He crowed. "Look Ryou. You're in an underground cell of a maximum-security prison. The only reason you're not in constant chains is because you're only ten." Ryou sniffed, pressing his lips together. It was becoming increasingly harder to suppress his tears. "Don't start crying."

"I'm not." Ryou shook his head, before standing up abruptly and grabbing his tray, before the disembodied voice in the ceiling could tell him to put it away. "I have to dress the dolls." He announced, setting his half-finished meal into the metal drawer, his only link to the outside world, and slamming it shut. Bakura only watched coolly as Ryou crouched back in front of his doll house, taking one of the women figures from a downstairs bed. There was something so oddly pure, and disturbing at the same time, as Ryou gently undressed the doll out of her ill-fitting pyjamas, and into a long blue dress that fell past her feet.

"It's breakfast time!" Martha chirruped, opening the fridge door. "Does anyone want to eat?"

"I do, I do!" The little boy, about nine, bounded into the room, his blonde hair tousled and matted, pyjamas too short in the leg. "Do we have any toast?" The woman smiled, and turned around, her hands on her hips as she glowered down at the little boy that was not her son.

"Get dressed first." She muttered firmly, her own brown curls still unruly. "And then we'll see about some breakfast... In your night clothes... What would your mother say?"

"She would tell me too get changed first." The boy screwed up his face. "Oh-_kay,_ I'll go and get dressed..." His shoulders were slumped as he left the kitchen to go and change into his clothes.

"Boys." Martha shook her head, hunting around under the kitchen sink for the toaster.

It was his duty really, to look after the dolls, to let them live out their lives in this chipped, old-fashioned dolls' house. Bakura knew it was. He knew Ryou wouldn't ever forgive himself if he abandoned the dolls to just lay there, in a box or on a shelf. That was why he reacted so strongly when the doctors and guards first took his dolls away. He screamed and cried and refused to eat until they were returned to him. And then, he needed extra clothes to dress them into, and groom them, so they 'didn't feel yucky in the same clothes all the time.' Bakura knew, to anyone else, that Ryou would seem quite insane from his obsession. But they had never been around to see a doll created. Never heard the screams of the victims as their souls were ripped from their bodies and forced into the tiny figures. Ryou had, and, wracked with guilt, had taken care of the dolls from day one. And Bakura could never comprehend _why_. They were people that had hurt Ryou. The blonde boy that his lighter half was dressing right then used to pick on Ryou all the time at school, and call him awful names. The woman was his cruel piano teacher. And the little girl... Well, she got in his way more than anything... There were at least twenty of the dolls in that house, and it ran Ryou ragged, struggling to try and give the dolls –the dolls he convinced himself that could hear and see everything- some sort of make-believe happy family life. It was... Sad.

Bakura was silent as he slowly crossed the room, his eyes locked on Ryou, who played with the dolls, his cadence randomly raising and lowering to replicate the voices that the people once had. It looked almost sweet. Bakura slowly bent down, crouching on the floor, until he was behind Ryou, staring at the back of his head. He leaned in slowly, closing his eyes to enjoy the smell of Ryou's hair. The boy still played with the dolls, unaware of the spirit behind him. Bakura leaned back, and slowly extended a pale, bony hand, his finger touching Ryou's hair.

The boy froze, eyes widening, and slim white hands clinging tightly to his dolls. Bakura's face was emotionless as he slowly slid the finger down Ryou's hair, until he was stroking the cloth of Ryou's shirt. The whitenette was shaking as Bakura added another finger, lowering his touch until he had reached the little bit of skin where his shirt was hiked up from bending over. Ryou gasped audibly as Bakura's fingers brushed the skin on his lower back, totally freezing. The yami was totally silent as his bony fingers slowly started to slide back up Ryou's back, the cold digits underneath the shirt this time. Ryou's mouth fell open, and he clenched the dolls tightly in his shaking hands. His young, innocent mind had absolutely no idea what Bakura was doing to him, having totally no sexual experience whatsoever. The spirit didn't even really know what he was doing himself, as he slowly flattened his palm over Ryou's back. The boy closed his eyes, gritting his teeth.

"God." Bakura muttered as his translucent hands managed to completely cover Ryou's back, his thumb touching one side, and his pinkie touching the other, his left hand placed on the soft, silky skin above the right, covering Ryou's back from the nape of his neck to his lower back. Although his hands didn't look solid, and was visible only to Ryou's eyes, the white-haired boy still managed to feel Bakura's touch. "You're so _tiny_." He rumbled the words in Ryou's ear, the boy biting his lip as his eyes stung. Bakura's corporeal hands, icy cold, slowly started to move around to the boys' front, earning a soft cry from Ryou.

"_Stop!"_ His voice was high and frightened as he dropped the dolls' in his hands, tears welling up in his eyes. Bakura frowned, and yanked his hands away from Ryou's shirt in surprise, staring at Ryou's back. "Stop it!" Ryou bent over, starting to cry. Bakura slowly stood up, staring down at the boy. Ryou held his face in his hands as he cried, despite the fact that it was so against Bakura's orders, so deep was his misery and confusion.

"Stop crying." Bakura growled the words, low in his throat. His voice was rough and had a hard edge of anger. "Stop crying _now."_ Ryou shook his head, his hair falling over his shoulders and arms. "I command you to stop!" Ryou only sobbed harder. He felt violated, but didn't know _why_. All he knew was that the way Bakura had touched him was wrong, so very wrong...

"Ryou, _STOP!"_ Bakura screamed at the top of his lungs, leering over the boy. "How dare you not follow my orders like this!" Ryou slowly, shakily raised his head from his hands, and arched his neck back, staring open-mouthed at Bakura. The spirit stared down at Ryou, and his wide brown eyes brimming with innocent naivety and confusion, and pain. "And don't _look _at me like that!" Ryou slowly closed his eyes, and brought his head back down, pressing his lips together to try and suppress the flow of tears.

"... Go to bed." Bakura finally managed to mutter through gritted teeth. Ryou hiccupped, shaking. "_Now_." The boy moaned, shaking his head as he rubbed desperately at his eyes, his back still icy cold from Bakura's touch. "Ryou, go to bed now, or there will be consequences!" Bakura slowly stood up, his hands on his hips, but the little whitenette didn't move.

"Ryou..." His blood was boiling. "If you don't go to bed _right now_, then I will personally turn _you_ into a doll!" It was an empty threat, and both Ryou and Bakura knew that he wouldn't go through with it, but it got his point across. Ryou weakly got up to his feet, and stumbled across to his bed in a daze. He sat down on the mattress, clutching the edge with shaking hands. He stared down at the floor, his mouth slightly open. Tears still dripped down his cheeks, and he didn't bother to brush them away, knowing they would come right back anyway.

"Undress and get into bed." Bakura commanded, using his height to his fullest advantage, leering over the thin teenager. Ryou gulped, and nodded. He pulled his grey sweatpants down his slim pale legs, and then lay down on the mattress, groping around for his blanket, bunched up at the end of the bed.

"No." Bakura growled, his nose crinkling in a snarl as he looked at the teenager. "Don't go to sleep yet Ryou, you're not undressed are you?"

"Wh-What..." Ryou looked down at his tee-shirt and underpants, trembling. "N-No..."

"Then do it." Bakura retorted, his voice sharp, and expression smouldering."Don't you dare disobey me like this."

"O-Okay." Ryou hiccupped, not wanting to fight, not wanting to face the consequences. He pulled off his shirt easily, and his underwear followed. He lay down on his stomach, purely to hide himself from Bakura, pulling the thin blankets roughly over himself, and burying his face in the pillow, shaking madly. He was simply terrified of the spirit who was hovering over him. Ryou was so confused, still felt incredibly violated, and was beginning to feel extremely sick. Bakura smirked, and sat down on the edge of the bed, still hovering over Ryou's tiny frame. He touched his smooth shoulder, gently, and the boy bit back a cry, pressing his face against the pillow so close he almost smothered himself, his arms reaching out to hug it. Wrap around it tightly, desperately. Bakura ran his hand down Ryou's back again, _dragging the blankets down._

And behind the one-sided mirror, five doctors, scientist and psychologists, froze as the blankets continued to move of their apparently own accord, before they were tossed carefully to the floor. Bakura had done it, but the spirit was totally invisibly to them.

"Please..." Ryou begged weakly, starting to sob as the pressure on his back increased, pushing him into the mattress. "Oh God..." He breathed, as Bakura leaned over, his long wild hair brushing against his skin. "Don't do this to me..." Ryou pleaded tearfully, his voice muffled. _Please._

"Do what?" Bakura whispered, purring the words in Ryou's ear. "Oh, come now, Ryou. What kind of sick pervert do you take me for? I wouldn't do anything to hurt you... Much." Ryou whimpered, flinching away from Bakura. "Pathetic child."

"I-I am a child." Ryou sobbed. "I-I'm a kid and you're... You're doing _this_..." Bakura stared down at the shaking, frail boy who lay beneath him, cold, terrified and alone. _Leave it._

"... Just shut up and go to sleep." Bakura stood up, and turned around, folding his arms. Ryou sniffed, and pulled the blankets up higher around himself, curling over to one side. He wiped his eyes on the pillow, his chin trembling. Bakura waited fifteen minutes, before he turned around again, noticing Ryou's breathing was deep and even. He stared down at the thin, frail form, who had clearly cried himself to sleep, his hands on his hips. He bent over slowly, making sure he didn't startle the boy, and reached out, brushing a lock of stunning white hair out of Ryou's face. He ran a bony, semi-corporeal finger down the side of the childs' face, who sighed in his sleep. His innocence and frailty was still such a strange thing to Bakura, who took the opportunity to exploit it whenever he could.

_You're such a pretty little thing._ Bakura mused, twirling a little piece of hair around his bony finger. _And I'm going to keep you frail and beautiful forever._

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_Ugh. Morning._ Ryou wrinkled his nose as his mind was slowly lifted from the sweet fog of unconsciousness. He rubbed at his eyes, and eventually rolled over, groaning. He'd been having dreams again... Dreams about his past, dreams about when he lived in that cell in England...

_Thank God it got leaked to the public, what they were doing._ Ryou sighed as he pushed back the blankets, swinging over the side of the bed, placing his feet on the floor. _Bakura was right, it was way easier for him to break me out of a foster home and take us here._ Ryou yawned as he stood up, shuffling across the bedroom floor and over to the bathroom. On the other side of the bed, Bakura slept soundly, snoring lightly.

Ryou turned the shower on silently, leaning against the wall and staring into space, in a daze. He was still half-asleep, but the scalding water managed to wake him properly. As per usual, Ryou spent his ritualistic twenty-five minutes under the shower, washing his hair twice, making sure he covered every inch of his body in expensive shower gel, shaving his legs, and brushing his teeth. When he returned to his bedroom, Bakura was awake in bed, sitting upright, with his arms crossed. Ryou said nothing as he towelled the damp from his skin, and eventually dropped it to the floor, grabbing at his bottle of moisturiser on the dressing table.

"Need help?" Bakura smirked as Ryou sat down on the bed naked, starting at his toes. The teenager shook his head silently, rubbing his greasy hands over his left foot, rubbing in the cream. "Sure?"

"I can get it all." Ryou gritted his teeth as he started on his ankles, his hands starting to shake. "Do you have something to say to me at all?"

"Do I?" Bakura lay back down, staring at Ryou as he slowly rubbed the moisturiser into himself, eyeing Ryou's smooth, silky legs.

"Yes." Bakura's breath caught in his throat as Ryou began to work on his thighs, working in the cream the same way he had done every morning, just as Bakura had instructed him to. "It's September the second, remember?"

"... Oh, yes." Bakura's lips twisted in a smile, and he sat back up, biting back a groan. "That's right... It's your birthday, 'aint it?"

"I'm fifteen." Ryou worked on his stomach, smiling. Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Means I'm not a kid anymore."

"Remember when you were ten?" Bakura muttered off-handedly. "Remember how you started to freak out whenever I touched you funny?" Ryou rolled his neck slightly, rubbing the moisturiser on his shoulders, unable to look Bakura in the eye

"And you calmed me down by saying no sex until I was fif..." Ryou trailed off, brown eyes widening, and slowly filling with tears of fear. "teen..."

"You have a long memory." Bakura tilted his head to one side as he stared at Ryou's naked form, _so_ many filthy thoughts running through his mind.

"No." Ryou, although his wasn't finished, snapped the lid of his moisturiser shut, throwing it onto the bed. "I'm not ready..." He started to shake. "I-I'm n-not-"

"Get ready for school." Bakura muttered, rolling over, and slowly opening his side table drawer. Ryou sniffed, and walked over towards his mirror. He applied the eye-liner carefully, trying not to wobble the pitch black line, and then took his tube of tinted lip gloss.

"I-I don't know why you even said that." Ryou's speech was slightly impaired as he applied the flavoured lip gloss, and pressed his lips together, making sure he had applied it evenly. Despite the fact he wore make-up, no one school ever made fun of him, not after what had happened to those bullies a mere week after he had enrolled. "You're just making me stressed."

"You're sounding as though I'm not being serious." Bakura smiled in triumph as he found the shoe-box sized cartoon he had been looking for.

"Please..." Ryou was near tears as he shook his head, turning to Bakura. "Not today. I-I just want to enjoy myself, Bakura... I just want my birthday to be happy for once..."

"Speaking of which," Bakura held out his box. "I got you a present." Ryou froze, and stared at Bakura, who was still holding it out. "Take it already."

"This... Is for me?" Ryou was confused, as he took the box from Bakura's hands. "Really?"

"Yup." Ryou sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling the top off the box. There was a wide smile on his face as he looked down at the box, and he froze, staring down at the box in shock.

Dolls.

Five lifeless dolls stared up at him.

A mother, a father, twin girls, and a little baby, all trapped in intricately carved wood and finely stitched cloth, their faces twisted in terror. Ryou screamed, and dropped the box, jumping up and taking a step back.

"Oh _GOD._" Ryou screamed, holding his hands over his mouth, his knees weak. Bakura smirked, and pushed back his half of the blankets, standing up."Oh God oh God oh God..." Ryou moaned, holding his head in his hands. "What have you _done?" _He cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. Bakura lifted a doll out of the box, and held it in his hand, eyes glittering with sadistic malice.

"Oh, I got you some dolls." Bakura grinned, baring his sharp teeth. "What, you don't like them?"

"Y-You sick twisted freak." Ryou choked out, sobbing. "H-How _could _you?"

"I got you a whole happy family." Bakura's smile grew. "Aren't they pretty?" He dropped the little girl he was holding back into the box, cackling manically. "I know you miss the dolls you had in England. You miss looking after them, don't you?"

"How could you..." Ryou repeated blankly, his chest heaving with sobs. His eye-liner ran down his cheeks in two little black rivers. "_Why?"_

"I've already told you why." Bakura took a step closer to Ryou, to breathe into his ear. "What, you don't like my birthday present?"

"You're a _monster." _Ryou took a step back, staring at Bakura in disgust. "You're a twisted _monster_, Bakura!" He grabbed blindly at the first pair of trousers he could find on the floor, which were Bakura's, and dragged them on. Because Bakura had controlled Ryou's diet, forcing him to only eat light salads and fruit to keep his slim waistline, they almost fell down his lean hips, but Ryou was past caring. He snatched up a shirt, and pulled it on also, fluffing out knotted, messy hair out from under his shirt that he hadn't brushed yet.

"Where the hell are you going?" Bakura snarled, angry as Ryou started to leave the room, wiping at his smudged eyes. "Ryou!" The teenager turned around, holding the door-frame as more tears leaked from his eyes. The next words he spoke were soft, shaking, and filled with so much pain, it would make any person who really had a heart feel sick with guilt.

"I-I'm going to go buy a dolls' house."

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Awwwwwhhh sad one XD

Oh well.

R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Ehehehe... Yes, it's my belated Christmas present to y'all. Okay, I know it's late... But hey, at least I delivered... Right? And it's a continuation! Yessir.

Yeah, kill me -.- At least it's long.

Disclaimer: Own nothing, bugger off.

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"Ryou, just stop _doing _this."

The brown-eyed boy kept his gaze trained on the piece of paper in front of him, his teeth gritted, slim little hand clenching the forest-green crayon tightly. Bakura made a sound of annoyance in his throat, glaring at the ten-year-old who was leaned over the white plastic card table, colouring the notebook paper frantically. Ryou sniffed, but didn't give Bakura the satisfaction he wanted by bursting into tears- Instead, merely set down his green crayon, and reached for the red.

"I'm telling you, no one gives a _shit_ around here that it's Christmas." Bakura snarled, his teeth gritted. "Goddamn, Ryou, you're just wasting time!"

"It's not for me." Ryou's voice was low, but still shook with emotion. "It's for them." He jerked his head in the direction of his old, battered dolls' house. Bakura rolled his eyes. "I want them to have a good Christmas too..."

"For fucks' sake, Ryou!" The boy gasped as Bakura stood up from the bed, trembling. "Get it through your thick head! No one cares it's Christmas! And I doubt those dolls even know what goddamn day it is!" Ryou squeaked as Bakura slammed his fist on the table.

"W-Well... Th-that's why I'm making these decorations..." Ryou sniffed. "So I can let them know it's Christmas. They deserve it-"

"NO!" Bakura snapped, and, earning a short cry from Ryou, he gripped the back of his chair, pulling him away from the table. Ryou trembled as Bakura leered over him, ghostly hands on his shoulders. "You piss me off so Goddamn _much!_" Ryou's large brown eyes slowly filled with tears.

"Wh-Why?" The whitenette breathed, sniffing. Bakura's lip curled in a snarl.

"You're bloody compassion and empathy for people! These dolls are the souls of people yes. But I punished them because they deserved it! They hurt you!"

"They're still people!" Ryou threw his head back, staring up at Bakura was his large brown eyes filled with tears. "Some of them are children! Bakura, they didn't _deserve_ this-"

"Shut up!" Bakura lost control, and grabbed at Ryou's glass of water, which was nearly empty. He picked it up, and _threw_ it, as hard as he could, where it crashed against the wall, shattering. "Stop pissing me off like this, goddamn it!"

"I'm not." Ryou was gripping the sides of his chair tightly, staring down at his colouring. "I-I don't mean too, I just-"

"Look at what they've done to you!" Although Bakura knew he really, really shouldn't, he completely exploded at Ryou, the pent-up rage and anguish and sense of injustice that he managed to curb for almost nine months started flowing out. "You're in a prison cell! You barely eat right, you have no family, you don't go to school anymore, you can't have any exercise... Ryou, how can you be goddamn calm and caring towards these fucking dolls? I would have destroyed them by now!"

"You're not me." Ryou closed his eyes, fighting back tears, and failing. They crept past his closed eye-lids, trickling down his cheeks, and dripping off of his chin, into his carefully coloured paper, ruining it.

While the pair were in the small, windowless room, a group of guards, medical doctors, and psychologists were staring into Ryou's room absolutely stunned- Well, to be more exact, they were staring at the shattered glass on the floor, lost for words. To them, it had seemed like it just flew up, and then across the room, crashing onto the floor in tiny pieces. And to them, there was no way, in any laws of physics that that could happen. Glasses didn't float. They didn't fly across the room by themselves. The only reasonable explanation was that Ryou did it, but he had kept his hands on the table at all times- They had seen it.

"This... Oh God..." One of the psychiatrists lifted a hand to her mouth, and looked over to her colleague. "That glass..."

"It's a trick." She snarled, eyes narrowed. "Ryou's pulled a trick on us. He must have..."

"How?" One of the males interjected. "He would have had to somehow set it up... We were watching him this whole time, we've had constant guard... Things are moving by themselves, Ryou's talking and screaming to a person who's not there and he _changes_..."

"We called in that physic..." Another murmured. "She looked at him through the glass for less than ten seconds and took off screaming about demons and darkness and her soul being stolen..."

"Superstition." The second woman rolled her eyes. "She's a crock. This is all a crock. He's fooling you all like this!"

"Insane or not, he's still a ten-year-old boy." Her friend argued. "Come on, be reasonable. He's not smart enough to pull of such a trick without us catching him. Something is _wrong_ here..."

"Oh, come on." Having enough, the angry woman threw down her clipboard. "I cannot believe you people. Look, either way that glass is dangerous in there. If he kills or injures himself on it, we're in big trouble. You all know how the Prime Minister feels about this already."

"Maria no!"

"You're insane!"

Maria ignored the calls of her work colleagues, as she pulled open the door, walking just a few feet down the hall, to where the door to Ryou's cell was. It needed a PIN number, a fingerprint scan, and voice recognition, before the huge door, over a foot thick, slowly swung open.

Ryou jumped, eyes wide as Maria kicked the door behind her, eyes narrowed. The white-haired boy whimpered, his hands clenched into tight fists. Bakura loomed behind him, and Ryou heard the sound of dissent in his voice.

"Don't..." He breathed, his head bowed, voice trembling. Maria raised an eyebrow, thinking the comment was directed towards her.

"I'm only here to pick up the glass." She grabbed at an empty plastic bag, one that should have held some of his toys, and bent over, starting to pick up the shards of glass. "No one else would do it, but they're just superstitious idiots." Contempt was evident. "Listen kid, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I don't buy it." Although she hadn't finished, the woman, threw down the plastic bag, glaring at Ryou. "You've put how many people into coma's, Ryou? Sixty-two. Sixty-two people have been hospitalized, and no one knows why! You're a _monster_ and you-"

"STOP IT!" Ryou had stood up, crying. He felt sick, his head spinning and an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I'm not a monster!"

"Then why have you done this?" Maria was incredulous. "Why do you hurt people?"

"I _don't." _Ryou was tearful, intimidated. And Bakura, clinging to Ryou's shoulder, shook with fury. How _dare_ this stupid woman try to threaten and intimidate his sweet little Ryou the way she was! No one had this sort of power over Ryou, no one! Well, no one except for him. But he was allowed to! He was Ryou's better half. He was the stronger. It was just job- no no, his _expectation_ to treat Ryou the way he did. And if this woman was going to even _try_ and exert her power over a scared child, well... Ryou would just have to add another doll to his collection.

"Yes, you do!" She was going too far, and she knew it. But her rage at what this clearly insane, child, convicted of fifty accounts of assault and fourteen of attempted murder, who would have been sentenced to life imprisonment, at the very least, if he was just six or so years older, was uncontrollable. Ryou bowed his head for a moment, apparently to cry, and she felt a tiny pang of guilt in her chest. _Shit. _She licked her lips, drawing up the resolve to say something soothing to him. But when he lifted his head, Maria gasped, taking a head back. For Ryou's eyes weren't a warm chocolate brown anymore, but a shockingly deep crimson.

"His eyes changed colour." She raised her voice, taking a step back away from Ryou, her hands shaking. "_His eyes changed colour!"_

"How dare you treat my lighter half the way you have." Bakura spat, his face twisted into an ugly expression. He straightened himself, seeming at least two inches taller than previous. "How _dare_ you take Ryou away from his father and force him here!" The yami shouted, his heart starting to race. "How dare you refuse to give a boy his childhood! How dare you call him a monster! You will face _punishment_ for this, I assure you!"

"Wh-Wha..." She started to hyperventilate, eyeing the exit. "Get me out of here! Now!"

"It's too late." Bakura smirked, his hands splayed. The air grew cold in the room, and Maria was sure the lights dimmed.

Ryou, hidden deep in his soul room, held his hands over his ears, but was still unable to block the cries of fear and pain that flashed through his mind. _Stop it stop it stop it!_ Ryou was sobbing into his hands, curled up miserably on his bed. Being in his soul room both calmed him, and made him miserable. With the small bed with sky blue covers, matching white striped wallpaper, his little bookshelf crammed with children's books, and his bean bag chair and toybox and set of drawers.

It was an exact replica of his room before his mother and sister died, right down to their picture pinned up on their noticeboard. Ryou both liked being there in his room, able to close his eyes and pretend that this was real, and that all of this awful stuff never really happened- But on the other hand, it seemed to mock him. Being stuck in that shallow pretence of his old life. Sometimes, Ryou found it so suffocating, he would just escape, and stand beside Bakura in an ethereal form, rather than being forced to sit in there. It all just depended on his mood.

Ryou was hidden away in his room for exactly three minutes. He knew, because he counted to one hundred an eighty as slowly as he could. It didn't seem like enough time, but before Ryou could protest, he found himself forced back into his own body. He stared at the still form, face down on the floor, and tensed his hand around the little wooden doll he clutched so tightly. He felt as though he were about to throw up, or pass out, or both. There was an odd ringing in his ears, and his stomach churned. His frame was covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from the still figure on the ground...

"Oh God, Maria!" Ryou jumped as the door was pushed open, and a crowd of grown-ups in white coats crowded around the doorway. One flung herself onto the floor beside the still woman, rolling her face-up, sobbing. "Oh God, she's not responding..."

"What have you done!" Ryou squeaked at the firm hands on his shoulders, clutching the tiny wooden doll close to his chest. "What have you done to her!"

"I-I..." The world wheeled beneath Ryou, who was having trouble forming the words. The sensation to vomit increased further, and he was hyperventilating. "I-I didn't d-do it..."

"You goddamn _liar!"_ Ryou closed his eyes, curling into himself. He bowed his head, his lower lips trembling, and swallowed.

_I can take care of them._ Ryou whimpered at the deep throaty voice in his ear, and clutched the doll even tighter.

"No more dolls..." The whitenette breathed brokenly. "God Bakura, please... N-no more dolls..."

_They deserve it!_ Bakura eyed the men that held Ryou in his spiritual form with intense distaste. _Look at them, with their hands all over you. You're __**mine**_

"Don't..." Ryou cried out as he was hoisted into the air, "No! Hey! Let me go!" He kicked out at the men that held him, but the strength of a frail ten-year-old boy was no match next to two full-grown males.

"Andrea, get up..."

"She... She's not waking up... He's put her in a coma!"

"Yeah, we got that. Come on, we'll get her into a bed."

"What are you going to do with him?"

"I don't know."

"Lock him up! That monster can _never _see the light of day after this! She did nothing to him and he-he-"

"Look, take her away, okay? Give her a strong drink for nerves."

"I-I can't... Maria... He's so _dangerous!_"

_Not._ Ryou felt sick as the conversation drifted through his head, shaking his head. _It wasn't me! It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't!_

"Don't worry. We're going to make sure he'll never do this again."

"You're gonna kill him?"

"No!" Ryou gasped, twisting about desperately. "Please, I-I didn't-"

"Kill a kid?" The man sounded hurt. "You do it."

"I could-"

"Andrea _no._"

"I'll just make sure that he _never _does this again." Wide brown eyes, leaking tears, fixed on the snarling face with a large, hooked nose, that loomed in front of him. "Will you, Ryou?"

"Don't hurt me." Ryou pleaded, sobbing, still tightly holding that little wooden doll. He cast a quick glance down at it, the man catching his gaze.

"What's this?" Ryou sniffed, and shook his head weakly as a bony hand prised his fingers apart, pulling the tiny doll in the white lab coat out of his hand. "_Oh God."_ Ryou closed his eyes as the doll was dropped to the floor, biting down hard on his lower lip to keep from crying loudly. "You _freak!"_

"No..." Ryou begged, his heart thudding in his chest. He felt sick... "It wasn't me... Please..."

"Get him out of here." The man spat, ordering the two orderlies. "Put him in the smallest, darkest cell you can possibly find until I know what to do with him."

"No!" Ryou screamed, trying to stamp on his captors' feet. "I didn't do this! I swear! I-I could never hurt anyone!"

"He's dangerous." Ryou flinched at the voice. "I don't want anyone near him. Give him food, and that's it. I'm going to arrange a meeting with the Management. I don't know what to do with him..."

"Kill him!"

"Andrea, _no!_ I have a son his age... God, imagine being his father, having to witness this thousands of miles away..."

"He was the one that gave him to us! He said he could control him and look! We thought we knew! If we knew then how did this happen? Why is Maria in a freaking coma? Why is there a doll that looks just like her? Why-" She broke down crying. Ryou turned his head back, to catch one last look at the room, his heart thudding. _My dolls! I need to look after them, I need to give them a life, I need to give them Christmas..._

"Shut up about your fucking dolls!" Bakura exploded, walking alongside Ryou as he was being dragged away. "Look at yourself! They're gonna put you in a goddamn box and your worried about your _dolls?"_

"It's not my fault!" Ryou momentarily forgot that he was in the company of people why didn't know, didn't understand, and started speaking out loud to Bakura. "Look! I am here, because you hurt her! You hurt her and I said no! You're the monster, not me!" The orderlies who were holding the boy stopped in their walk. "I didn't hurt any of them!"

"She was being _way _out of line to you!" Bakura stood a foot away from Ryou, the bridge of his nose wrinkled in a snarl. "No one talks to a possession of mine like that and gets away with it!"

"I-I'm not..." Ryou bowed his head, sobbing. The orderlies looked at each other, and back down at Ryou. "I-I..."

"Oh, come on." Ryou closed his eyes as he felt a finger underneath his chin, slowly forcing him to look up. "We've gone through why I've have to do this so many times... And if you like..." Ryou gasped. Bakura had slowly walked closed to Ryou until his lips were beside Ryou's ear, his hand resting on the ten-year-old boys' rear. Ryou sobbed, and the two men stood stock still, not knowing what the hell was going on. "I can always..." Two sets of eyes widened as Ryou's shirt apparently started travelling up his back of his own accord- they never realised who was behind it. "Just alleviate all of your problems..." A lock of hair was brushed out of Ryou's eyes and settled behind his ear without him touching it, and his right cheek was slightly pushed in, as though someone was applying pressure there... _Bakura kissed him._

"No!" Ryou burst out, confused, bewildered, and so so afraid. "Bakura, stop _touching _me! I hate it, you know I hate it!"

"So that's a no." Bakura straightened up with an ugly snarl. "You would rather _rot_ in a box than compromise a handful of lives for your own freedom. You make me sick."

"It makes me human!" Ryou protested. "Which is a lot more than _you _can say." The orderlies looked at each other for a long moment, totally bewildered, and scared.

"Go tell the boss everything that just happened." One ordered the other. "What Ryou said, how his hair and clothes moved... Don't leave anything out. I can handle him." Cold fear was in the pit of his stomach as his colleague released the too-tight grip he held on Ryou's elbow, and he wrapped an arm around Ryou's chest, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Let me go!" Ryou screamed desperately. "No! I don't wanna go there! You can't! Bakura, help! Don't kill him but help me please!"

"You're a fucking paradox!" Bakura's eyes flashed dangerously. "I cannot free you if you don't let me hurt them!" Their eyes locked for a long moment. Ryou's lower lip trembled, and he slowly lowered his head, sobbing. "Weak." He spat, in contempt. "Pathetic."

"Stop it..." Ryou mumbled, shaking his head as he was easily picked up, and carried to his new room, the man who held him positively shaking in fear. "Please..." _I'm not listening to you._ Ryou closed his eyes, and shut down his side of their mind in an attempt to block out Bakura's voice.

_They're taking you away to a place that's too awful to comprehend and you wont risk a few lives for freedom. You're either full of compassion, or very stupid. Both of which are weaknesses. Idiot._

* * *

"You can't keep me in here!"

Ryou beat his tiny little fists against the thick metal door, sobbing. Bakura sat perfectly still on Ryou's new bed, which was little more than a metal bench attached to the wall with two chains, and a thin mattress, a couple of blankets, and a pillow. The room was barely eight feet wide, and contained just his bed, a toilet, and cracked sink. _This really is a prison cell now_...

"I'm just a kid!" Ryou sobbed, kicking at the door. "This isn't fair! And I want my dolls! I'm not eating until you give them to me."

"Shut the fuck up about your _goddamn dolls!"_ Bakura's voice rose until he was screaming. He stood up, looming over the ten-year-old. "You're stuck in this abysmal cell and they're all you can think about? What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?"

"You gave them to me!" Ryou retorted, spinning on his heel. "So don't you _dare_ say this is my fault! You were the ones who stole those poor people's souls! They are in a coma, all because of _you!_"

"It is their entire fault!" Bakura snarled, glaring down at a pair of wet brown eyes. "They hurt you! Look at what that woman said to you!"

"That doesn't mean you had to put her in a coma!" Ryou was hyperventilating. "Don't you understand, Bakura? Look at it in their eyes! I'm different to them, okay? That's partly my choice. I talk, I dress and eat and act differently from most people. Of course I'm going to get picked on and bullied for it. That doesn't mean you can put anyone who does in a coma!"

"... Why are you like this." Bakura growled, his arms crossed as he slowly sat on the edge of his bed. "Why do you insist on showing your weak emotions? It's shit like that that lands you in places like this, Ryou!"

"No!" Ryou shook his head. "It's when you put my caregivers in a coma when they do stuff like this! You've done this! You've put me here!"

"So you keep repeating." Bakura snarled. "Look, just sit down, okay? You're wasting your strength, doing that, and I get the feeling that you're not gonna get very much food here." Ryou's shoulders slumped, and he slowly, regretfully walked over to his bed, where he sank down with a long, ragged sigh.

"But..." Ryou's voice wobbled, and he burst into fresh tears. "It's _Christmas_ tomorrow... I-I can't be all alone here on Christmas... Th-they cant do that..."

"They can do whatever they like." Ryou froze as Bakura's fingers grazed the back of his neck. "You heard them, they were talking about killing you." Ryou sniffed, swallowing as Bakura's hand started dipping lower, snaking underneath his shirt.

"Don't." The white-haired boy jerked away with a gasp, staring up at Bakura with accusing wide brown eyes. "I said no..."

"And _I_ said it was all harmless." Spiteful, wine-red eyes glittered, as he wrapped an arm around Ryou's waist, pulling him closer. Ryou shivered, being forced up close to that freezing, ice-cold body the way he was. "Until you're fifteen."

"B-But..." Ryou trembled as Bakura rested his lips on his temple. "Why are you _doing_ this?"

"... Because I can." Bakura finally muttered with a smirk, his lips trailing down the side of Ryou's face. "Think of this as a Christmas present to me." Ryou let out a choked sob, and bit down hard on his lip. "You'll grow to love this, I promise you..."

"But I get nothing for Christmas." Ryou closed his eyes, a scream building up inside of him. "This isn't _fair. _I want my Christmas!"

"Shhh..." Oh, how Ryou _hated _it when Bakura assumed this warm, sensual mood around him. "Lie down. You're tired. Get some rest. Don't worry about undressing."

"Just stop _touching_ me with your ghostly hands." Ryou pulled away from Bakura with a gasp. "And I'll be fine."

"Lie down." Bakura snarled, glaring at Ryou. The ten-year-old squeaked, and obeyed, pulling back the thin covers and snuggling down under them. He made a face. "What."

"This bed is hard." He buried his face into the pillow.

"Well, get used to it." Bakura growled, angry that Ryou had pushed him away. "You're here until I can think of a way out."

Ryou cried himself to sleep.

* * *

"You're still here." Ryou's tone was bitter as he stared at the television, slouched on the couch with his legs crossed. "I thought you'd be long gone by now." Bakura leaned against the doorway, a silvery eyebrow raised in interest.

"And why do you say that?" He purred, eyeing Ryou in nothing but the revealing nightgown, a large faded grey shirt that Bakura made him wear, his legs looking so irresistible in the lamplight...

"Stop looking at me like that." Ryou shifted on the couch, until his chin rested on the arm rest, unwittingly revealing even more of his creamy white legs. "We've done it twice today. No more, that's the rule."

"It's only six." Bakura snarled, crouching down in front of Ryou, blocking his view of the television. "And who made _you_ boss anyway?"

"I'm not." Ryou's voice was calm, but Bakura could see the flicker of fear in his eyes. "It's just something you said. Remember? Back in September? You said you wouldn't do it to me more than twice a day. I'm holding you to that Bakura-"

"-Or _what." _Bakura cut in, his face right up close to Ryou. "Like you could do anything to me." Ryou maintained the stare for a few moments, until he was forced to look away, his eyes shining with tears. "You should look at yourself before you start going all frigid-"

"You _made_ me like this!" Ryou lost control, standing up. "How dare you say that to me! I spent hours a day grooming, because you make me! I wear these clothes because you buy them for me and I have no others! I can't even eat what I want to with you!"

"... So defensive." Bakura hid a smirk. _Oh, he is so close to breaking, I can tell._ "It's almost like you don't want to be told you enjoy it-"

"I do _not!" _Ryou burst into tears, grabbing at Bakura's collar, glaring into his wine-red eyes. "How _dare_ you say that to me, Bakura? How _dare_ you! I hate you! I hate this! I hate what you've done to me! I've never enjoyed anything you have done!" Ryou wanted something, anything from Bakura. He wanted Bakura to scream at him for his insolence, to get angry at him, to even hit him.

But he never expected him to throw his head back and laugh. Ryou's eyes widened, and he took a step back, his lower lip trembling. Bakura actually wiped a tear from his eye, and shook his head, clapping a hand on Ryou's shoulder. The teenager tried, and failed to shrug it away.

"Oh, you're just so _cute_ when you think you're in control." Ryou closed his eyes as Bakura kissed his lips, keeping them firmly closed. "Now, if only you brought out that spark in bed-"

"You _sicko!"_ Ryou cried out, pushing Bakura away. "Ugh! That is just wrong! What is this, your sick attempt at flirting?" The yami only rolled his eyes.

"Oh please." He leaned in close to Ryou, a smile dancing on his lips. "This? No." Ryou gasped as Bakura's hands rested on the back of his thighs. "But you know what I can do to you." Ryou closed his eyes, trembling as Bakura's hands slowly scooted up his legs, cupping his bare rear underneath the nightgown. He gritted his teeth. "You know you love it..." Bakura breathed, squeezing Ryou's ass cheeks for a moment. The whitenette jumped, and sniffed. "What's wrong?"

"... Nothing." Ryou finally slumped into Bakura, his forehead in the yami's neck. "I suppose..." When in reality, Ryou knew something was very wrong. His body was responding to Bakura's touch. Bakura. The man who had been pretty much molesting him since he was ten. Who controlled every aspect of his life, from his appearance, to his diet, to his social life. _Why am I feeling like this? Am I... attracted to him? No. I can't be..._

"Didn't think so." Ryou gasped as he was pushed into the couch. He expected Bakura to jump on him, but instead, he turned away, lips pursed in a sneer. "I'm going to get some milk before the stores shut. Don't forget to play with your stupid dolls, either." Ryou shot him a glare, but Bakura wasn't around to see it. He slammed the door behind himself with a force that made a few walls shake, and Ryou sniffed, slumping into the couch with a sob.

It took a long time, but Ryou was finally able to rise from the couch, and walk shakily over to the corner of the room, where the family sat in their dolls' house. He didn't know who they were- Bakura had just picked a random car off the street, so Ryou gave them all names. Traditional, almost stereotypical names. The father was called John, the mother Caroline, the twin girls Ashley and Britney, and the little baby Mark. He'd bought them tiny little outfits that he had altered himself, and spent a lot of money on a lavish dolls' house and extra accessories.

Purely because Ryou thought that those five were totally, completely innocent. And they were. They had never hurt Ryou before. They were just a product of Bakura's intense spite and sadism. They never deserved it at all...

"Can't believe it's Christmas eve." Ryou mourned, brushing little Ashley's blonde curls morosely. "And I'm all alone... Again." _But that's no surprise. I've always been alone._ He let his mind wander as he played with the dolls, staring off into space. Really, he was too old for dolls. _When I was ten, I was in that cell, then when I was eleven, I was in that stupid foster home, and the last few I've been with Bakura who forgets and just abandons me. He always leaves when I need him most. I don't understand him. Why does he use me like this? He's shaped my whole life. I've devoted everything to him. Everything. And the very times when I need him most, he always seems to just disappear... I wish I knew why. I wish I knew how I could stop it. I just want him to go away and leave me but then he touches me and I want more and I don't know why and it's so sick!_

"But then again, look at my birthday..." Ryou sniffed, talking to himself more than the dolls. "Look at his 'gift'. Maybe it's better I don't get anything... It's just another opportunity to be spiteful to me. Why does he do this to me? I... I haven't done anything to deserve this...

But maybe he is just evil." Ryou was thoughtful, his hands still. "Maybe... He's just so twisted that he doesn't understand the concept of love or compassion or... Anything. Anything but hate and anger and vengeance...

But I don't hate him." Ryou's voice was very soft. "I take back what I said. I really don't hate him. I don't think I ever could. He..." Ryou swallowed. "He does things that makes me angry at him, a-and stuff, but..." the teenager rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "He's all I have... I've lost Mum and Amane and Dad too... And I have no real friends. No relatives... No one but Bakura. And if he wasn't here, I would really be alone. I suppose... I suppose I have that to thank him for.

Why am I trying to defend him?" Ryou groaned, shaking his head. "He's hurt me. So badly. It's his fault that so many horrible things have happened to me. I was treated like a criminal because of him. God, I'll never forget that. I still owe my life to that doctor who took it all to the media... They would have kept me locked up until I was seventeen and killed me, I know it.

But Bakura put me there in the first place!" Ryou set down the child doll, and rested his head in his hands. "He was the one who had me locked up after hurting all of those people! And the dolls... I never got them back. I went off food for a week and they never gave them back to me... I don't know what they did with them, but I wish I could have them back... Even just so I can release their souls again... If Bakura would ever let me." Ryou sighed, and leaned heavily against the wall, biting his lip. "I wish he would just let me have something to myself! Like... What I wore, or ate or even just how I have my hair... Something!" He closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. "Everything is controlled by him and it's _not fair!"_ Ryou stood up, and clenched his hands into fists. "Why can't he give me something, just one thing, that is _mine?"_ He held his head in his hands, overwhelmed. "He doesn't listen to me... He doesn't pay any attention, he doesn't _care..."_

"Who doesn't care?" Ryou jumped as the front door opened softly, eyes wide. Bakura smirked as he kicked the door closed, removing his shoes. "Not me, I hope."

"You know you don't." Ryou didn't have the energy for pleasantries. "Not my feelings, not my thoughts, not my personality, not me-"

"Oh shut it." But there wasn't the usual bite in Bakura's voice as he walked past Ryou, into the kitchen, clutching a brown paper shopping bag in two hands. "Honestly, that tune wore out three years ago."

"But it's true!" Ryou's chest swelled in anger. "Listen to yourself! You heap demand after demand on me and I obey! I do whatever you say, but if I ask for just one thing, you turn away and-"

"Excuse me?" Bakura's head and shoulders popped out of the doorway. "What one thing did you ask for this time?" He frowned slightly. Ryou sniffed.

"I..." He sat down slowly on the couch, tugging at the hem of his nightgown. "L-Last week... I asked if you could be with me this Christmas Eve and you never said yes."

"Ryou, where am I." Bakura asked in a deadpan voice. "Huh?" Ryou froze, and his eyes slowly widened.

"I thought... I thought you were just gonna go out again when you brought back the milk..." Ryou stared at the flickering TV screen. "You're not?"

"Nah." Bakura shrugged, and walked into the kitchen. The truth was, he was going to. He had every intention of abandoning Ryou, leaving the house until the early hours of the morning, where he would rouse Ryou from a fitful sleep, have his way with him, and crash out on the bed until noon. It happened every night. Ryou used to think he went out drinking, until he realised Bakura had no alcohol on his breath, and would simple fall asleep due to exhaustion, not alcohol. He didn't realise Bakura was out stealing, from cars, apartments, and when he could be bothered, banks and stores.

"... Why not?" Ryou dared to ask, as Bakura pulled out the milk, as well as a loaf of bread, a few cups of ramen, and a jar of peanut butter. Bakura bit his lip, staring off into space. _Yeah. Like I would tell the truth._

"... It's cold out." He called back lamely, slamming the fridge door behind him. "Fucking cold. I hate your winters, with the snow and ice and whatnot. After Egypt, it totally sucks."

"O-Oh." Ryou deflated a little, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I thought... Never mind."

"That I would actually want to spend time with you when I had no chance of being laid?" Bakura sneered as he entered the lounge again, a hand behind his back. Ryou looked up at the yami, hurt, as he straightened his legs, placing his feet on the floor.

"W-Well-"

"Because you're right." Bakura winced, feeling his pride beginning to crumble away. "Here." He withdrew his hand from behind his back, throwing the box at Ryou. "Merry Christmas. Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it."

"Wh-What?" Ryou's heart stilled for a moment, and he looked at the box in his lap disbelievingly. A box of chocolates stared up at him. A beautiful box of Belgian chocolates. He hadn't been allowed chocolate since he was thirteen. "_Bakura."_ His face broke into a wide grin, and he stood up, clutching the chocolates in one hand. His heart face, his chest filling up with joy. "Thank you so _much!"_

"You're- Whoa!" Bakura had the breath knocked out of him as Ryou engulfed him in a whirlwind hug, tears in his eyes. "What the..."

"This is so great." Ryou's voice trembled with emotion, as he wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck. "I-I... Oh _thank you._" Their cheeks touched. "I thought you forgot..."

"Uh... You're welcome?" Bakura snaked his arms around Ryou's tiny waist. "But don't eat them all at once, I don't want you getting fat." Ryou withdrew a little, and looked into Bakura's eyes. And a moment later, he totally took Bakura by surprise, by kissing him.

He felt so incredibly happy. Because it was more than a gift. It was more than something Bakura had picked up at the counter, as a last-minute present for his depressed lighter half. After all, Bakura, who had controlled strictly controlled Ryou's diet for two years, was giving him chocolate. That box would combine to over a thousand calories. That was more than he'd have in a day. And he was giving it to him...

"What the fuck was that for?" Bakura blinked, confused as Ryou pulled away, his cheeks flushing. "They're just chocolates."

"No they're not." Ryou stepped back, hugging the box to his chest. "I know what it is. It's so much more. So so so much more..." Bakura raised an eyebrow. _No it's not. It's just a stupid fucking box of chocolates. Just something I grabbed at the last moment after seeing that dead kid and feeling bad for Ryou. He's so deluded..._

"Okay..." Bakura shook his head, heading back into the kitchen. He needed a beer... "Whatever. But I mean it. Don't eat them all at once."

"I wont." Ryou's grin stretched from ear to ear. "I swear." He sat down on the couch again, lifting up the lid of the box, feeling happier than he had in months. He thought he had Bakura all figured out. He thought that Bakura really didn't feel anything for Ryou, apart from lust and hate and revulsion and a strange attraction. And then he went and did this. Ryou really was reading too much into a thoughtless and impulsive gift, which to Bakura was a token to alleviate his guilt, try and bring a smile to the miserable Ryou's face.

But to Ryou, at that moment, a stupid box of chocolates just meant the entire world to him.

* * *

Awwh.. fuzzies? Yes? No?

Okay, now to get back to other shitz... Gah.

R&R?


End file.
